Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-11-05
SACRAMENTO.
Some of Its Commercial Advantages
Features of Attraction, Etc.


for November, writer gives sketch of
Sacramento, which is readable and replete
with information for strangers. He says:
Sacramento is the capital city of Cali
fornia. 1t is situated at the confluence of
the American and Sacramento rivers, ninety
miles by rail easterly from San Francisco,
and from ten to eighteen miles westerly
from the lower foothills of the Sierra range.
We assume that the intelligent reader is
informed concerning It's early history-the
| present purpose is to speak of it as it is.
geographically the city is situated very
nearly in the center of the State; and for a
political seat could not be better located for
the convenience of the people of California
The city has population of thirty thou
sand souls. Its municipal area is something
in excess of four square miles. Fully two
thirds Of this is compactly built. Its
streets are broad, heavily shaded and
afford admirable drives. In its homes,
Sacramentans take pardonable pride, since
| for beauty of surroundings, floral wealth
and choice foliage their equals are few
The city is admirably related by rail
roads to the trade and transportation inter-
! ests of the coast. The California and Ore
gon Railroad leads hence northward; the
! Central Pacific east to the transmontane
regions, the California Pacific on the west
| side of the Sacramento river connects the
city with San Francisco and its upper
suburban towns and cities; the Western
| Pacific connects it with the San Joaquin
| Valley, the Southern Pacific leading to
the Gulf Of Mexico, and by continuation
from Lathrop makes a second connection
with San Francisco, and by branch lines
with the Santa Clara Valley. The Sacra-
mento Valley and Placerville line leads
from the capital city to the Ell Dorado
| Sierras and in few weeks viii make Pla-
cervilie its terminus. Feeders to the great
Central lines connect Sacramento to Anna
| dor, Nevada, Colusa and Calaveras coun-
ties. By navigation on the Sacramento
river, the city has trade relations with the
entire tier of river counties.
| Sacramento is literally endowed with
| churches, and maintains one of the largest
and best equipped school systems, supple
mented by several private educational in
stitutions One of these, the Sacramento
School of Design, occupies the Z. B.
Croker Art Gallery, a superb building
presented to the city by Mrs E. B.
Crocker and valued, with its collection of
oil paintings at about six hundred and
! fifty thousand dollars. The State capitol,
situated in the heart of the city, is CLASH
cal structure, erected at cost of upwards
of three million of dollars. Brevity forbids
reference to numerous other public build
ings Of Importance, libraries, confraternal
temples, academies, hospitals, ETC. The
Central Pacific Railroad shops in this city
are the largest mechanical works upon
the coast, and give employment to nearly
| two thousand skilled and unskilled work
men.
| The trade of Sacramento aggregates in its
| .iobbing branches about sixty million dol
lars annually, and extends throughout all
| the central and northern and mountain
sections, and the adjacent States and Ter
ritories. Because of the minimized fixed
capital required, centrality of location, ter
minal facilities and climatic advantages.
| this trade exists and is constantly expand
/ ing. Sacramento is the chief fruit ship
| ping station of the State, sending forward
in season far more fruit than any other
point, and generally as much as most
others combined. Its rail and river trans
portation facilities, nearness to the noun
| tain range, contiguity to the great foothill
region. centrality Of location, and climatic
/ desirability, all conspire to make it the
most prominent fruit forwarding post of
| the State.
| The county of Sacramento is largely de-
voted to fruit raising, and it is no exagger-
alton to say that for grapes, berries and
general fruits, its soil is not secondhand
in many respects is frst-in comparison
with many and all other sections. Its river
| bottnn1 Lands Al
! est of the coast, making Sacramento pre-
eminently the chief hop-raising territory
| of the United States The largest hop
yard in the world is in this county, as also
the second largest vineyard of the world.
OF wheat, barley and alfalfa, the county
yields abundantly, and of the first quality.
| The speculative spirit is wholly absent in
Sacramento and vicinity, but not the spirit
Of progress and enterprise. The business
and property interests maintain 4 vigilant
Board of Trade, an Improvement Associa-
ton and an immigration Society, all act
lively engaged in promoting local interests.
Irrigation has not been needed in the
county, nor employed, save in berry farms
and gardens through agencies that lift wa
ter from bored wells, it being found in
quantity and purity in a gravel strata I'M
DERIVING most of the county area
In the mass of ideas, afloat in the local
and Eastern press about Northern Califor-
MIA, there are two common kinds of mis-
takes. The one class of error has arisen
from too much telling and believing; the
other from too little. Enthusiastic local
boomers have pictured it paradise with
out a drawback in point Of climate and
fertility and equal enthusiastic boomers
of other sections have as assiduously cried
down this idea with chilly insinuations of
frosts and barren fields.
There is truth enough in both sides of
the argument to make it dangerous. The
settler coming to Sacramento need not ex-
pect to find frostless region with endless
orange and lemon groves any more than in
regions farther south. But he will find
climate genial and bracing, free from the
enervating quality that is the curse of
Southern California; and oranges and lem
ons enough ripening in the air to convince
the most skeptical of the practicalness of
raising them for market in this section.
JUS now, however, Sacramento county
points to them only as an index of more
substantial probabilities. Where the orange
grows, the vine and the fruit tree will
flourish in tenfold ratio. The culture of
citrus fruits is not sufficiently advanced vet
to make competition with the South.
But in raisins, apricots, peaches and all
other fruits the balance is very decidedly
in favor of the north The raisins made
IN Sacramento county, being grown with
out irrigation, are sweeter and thinner
skinned than the more famous Fresno
brands. The finest picked olives exhibit
ed last year were grown at Florin, Sacra-
mento county, and as for the citrus fruits
themselves, late analysis of northern
oranges by Professor Hilgard of the State
University, has led to the publication by
him of the statement that the percentage
of sugar and absence of acid, is on the
whole about the same as that found in the
Riverside and Los Angeles fruit; and that
the question is now one of selection of va
rieties instead of practical possibilities of
their being able to live.
In conclusion, the writer. after seven
teen years residence in the city and county
and broad observation of all other parts of |
the State, is convinced that no other coun- |
ty has such varied resources that are more
easily or proftably developed. The people |